


You've Got Me

by wondrawall



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Club AU, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Uni AU, im terrible with tags, sort of???, this took me forever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-19
Updated: 2015-04-19
Packaged: 2018-03-24 20:47:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,469
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3783832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wondrawall/pseuds/wondrawall
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"This boy is tall, gangly, and has a head full of curls, messily arranged on top of his head. His dimples are too deep, his eyes too bright, and his lips too pink. Louis’ frown deepenes.</p><p>“Hey everyone, er, I’ll be performing some songs that hopefully you know the words too so feel free to sing along. Hope you like it.”</p><p>Zayn chooses that moment to slide back into the seat opposite Louis wearing a very smug smile, “Someone looks perky.”</p><p>Louis whips his head around, tearing his eyes away from this Harry Styles and frowns.</p><p>“I’ll have you know I am still very much dead inside, cheers mate.” He grabs the drink Zayn has set on the table, something a little too fruity. Louis downs it nonetheless."</p><p> </p><p>(or the one where Louis curses Harry's existence and love and hate intertwine in meloncholy ways.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	You've Got Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bremxxre](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bremxxre/gifts).



> This took my way to long and I really hope it came out alright. I had written 17 pages of this fic before I deleted the whole thing and started over, i'm a mess. As always, I hope you enjoy. xxx

“This is bloody ridiculous.”

 

“You’ve been hiding in your room for the past three days, and _this_ is ridiculous? Mate, I love you, but shut the fuck up.”

 

Zayn latches his hands around Louis’ wrists and tugs him along the dimly lit street while Louis continues to try to twist free.

 

“This is insane, I don’t need to get out more! I was working thank you very much Zayn, since _some_ of us have an actual job that doesn’t consist of doodling and stabbing people.” Louis huffs, flicking his fringe out of his eyes.

 

“No need to be bitter because you wish you could do those things,” Zayn retorts coming to a halt and makes Louis stumble into his back.

 

“What is this?” Louis scrunches his nose as he looks up and down at the building.

 

It’s an old looking building, with fogged windows and applause erupting inside. The letters of the building ware faintly glowing, some not even functioning at all.

 

The whole building seems slightly slanted, but Zayn just rolls his eyes and shoves open the faded door, practically throwing Louis inside.

 

He’s met with the smell of alcohol and smoke; cheerful smiles and sleepy eyes.

 

Louis takes in the surroundings. It makes him question what Zayn actually gets up to considering Louis never pictured him getting excited about dingy pubs.

 

Regardless, Louis hates Zayn and will never forgive him (no matter how many drinks Zayn buys him.)

 

Zayn leads them to one of the booths that line the sides of the pub and plops down onto the cracked leather seats.

 

“Z, why the fuck are we here? Of all the places, this is literally a hole in the wall.”

 

“Oi, stop bein’ a prick or I’ll leave you sober. You just needed to get out and as your best mate, it’s my mission to get you smashed, ‘kay? So shut it and I’ll go order somethin’.”

 

With that, Zayn gets up to go to the bar in the corner.

 

The whole place is filled with the sound of a low bass and quiet chatter among the groups of people that linger around the area.

 

Louis lets out a defeated sigh and rests his head on the table, determined to take a nap to spite Zayn but, since the universe hates him, a loud voice booms over the speakers.

 

“Alright, let’s get this show movin’!”

 

Louis looks up and sees a blonde lad on the stage wearing a backwards hat and sunglasses, despite the fact that they were indoors.

 

“MC Niall Horan in the house!” Blondie smiles, jumping up and down on the stage as everyone claps.

 

“Up next we have our very own Harry Styles, performing for the fourth time this week. Someone please get ‘im a proper job, he won’t get out of me house!” The crowd laughs as Niall exits the stage, while stumbling limbs and giggles filled it.

 

Louis’ heart must have physically stopped and a groan may have escaped his lips.

 

This boy is tall, gangly, and has a head full of curls, messily arranged on top of his head. His dimples are too deep, his eyes too bright, and his lips too pink. Louis’ frown deepens.

 

“Hey everyone, er, I’ll be performing some songs that hopefully you know the words too so feel free to sing along. Hope you like it.”

 

Zayn chooses that moment to slide back into the seat opposite Louis wearing a very smug smile, “Someone looks perky.”

 

Louis whips his head around, tearing his eyes away from this _Harry Styles_ and frowns.

 

“I’ll have you know I am still very much dead inside, cheers mate.” He grabs the drink Zayn has set on the table, something a little too fruity. Louis downs it nonetheless.

 

Zayn continues to give Louis knowing glances through the whole performance while Louis’ frown continues to deepen and he slides further and further down into the booth.

 

He was perfectly happy in his room. It may be covered in laundry and dirty dishes and the light from his laptop was starting to hurt his eyes. So what? Maybe he also forgot to shower for all three of those days but he wasn’t a ‘bloody hermit’ as some people so eloquently put it. He was just deep into his work and-

 

God he hates this boy.

 

The boy on stage keeps shaking his hips and throwing up peace signs, whipping his hair around and it was absolutely atrocious. Truly it is, no matter how much Zayn urges that Harry Styles is a cool guy, Louis refuses to believe him. (Maybe it’s out of spite but Zayn’s a shit.)

 

“Frown more, I dare you. You’re face is gonna get stuck like that,” Zayn comments, reaching to flick Louis’ nose.

 

Louis snorts and bats his hand away, “Mate, please, we both know my face is beautiful.”

 

“Can you just pull your thumb outta your arse and enjoy the show? Stop trying to act like you aren’t in love with him.”

 

Louis chokes on his drink and throws balled up napkins at Zayn’s snickering figure.

 

“Will you _sod off_. This is horrid, I can’t believe we’re even here, just awful.”

 

“You haven’t stopped making heart eyes at him since he started singing, you’re the one who’s awful, and gagging for it, might I add,” Zayn throws the napkins back at him.

 

“Hardly. My eyes are just naturally this lovely, thanks for noticing Zaynie,” Louis swoons, taking another sip of his drink, “and m’not gagging, give me some credit.”

 

Louis looks back on stage to see Harry standing on one of the tables in front of it, shimmying. The people sitting at the table are practically falling out of their chair with laughter, one even tossing some money at Harry.

 

Zayn knocks his foot against Louis’ to get his attention, “There’s gonna be a little after party where I’m sure a certain someone will be, if you’re interested.”

 

Louis leans back against the booth and rakes his eyes up and down Harry’s dancing body as he belts out the ending of the song, before turning to face Zayn.

 

(He hates him he does.)

 

“You’ll take me no matter what I say.”

 

Zayn taps his head, “Ah, young grasshopper learns fast.”

 

So an hour later Louis finds himself being suffocated by sweaty, dancing bodies in a foreign house with cheap beer in his cup. The lights pulsate around him as he tries to look over the ocean of people. He lost Zayn as soon as they stepped through the door and hadn’t seen him in who knows how long.

 

He shimmies his way out of the crowd and takes in a deep breath after finally managing to get to freedom and fresh air.

 

He makes a trip to the kitchen with only getting lost once on the way. The house is bloody massive and when Zayn said there would be an after party he didn’t think he would be taken back in time to a shitty high school shindig.

 

There's free alcohol though so he keeps the complaining to a minimum.

 

He’s just about to pour himself another drink when someone grabs his elbow, knocking his cup to the floor.

 

“What the fu-“

 

“We need another person for beer pong, c’mon!” A tipsy Zayn shouts at him, not waiting for a response before pulling him out of the kitchen.

 

Louis is led through the entirety of the house, bumping into too many people and spilling too much beer on his shoes.

 

When they finally make it outside there is a fairly large crowd surrounding a table.

 

“Got ‘im! Let’s go!” Zayn shouts, jumping over to the table.

 

The people erupt into applause and Louis quirks an eyebrow when he sees a particular lad get quite cozy next to Zayn’s side.

 

“Alright, get on yer teams then! Rock, paper, scissors to see who starts!” Louis sees Niall shouting instructions from the other end.

 

He crosses over to Zayn’s team and chuckles at the very intense game of rock, paper, scissors that plays out and cheers along with everyone when his team wins.

 

Both sides are pretty much even the whole time until it’s Louis’ turn and he practically chokes on his own spit when he realizes it’s Harry he’s against.

 

“C’mon mate! We ain’t got all night!” Someone shouts and Harry actually smirks at him.

 

What a shit.

 

Louis furrows his eyebrows and carefully aims his ping pong ball which gets increasingly difficult as his hands are shaky and his vision is borderline blurry.

 

He huffs as he tries to get the right angle and as he goes to toss it, someone crashes into his elbow making the ball fly across the table, smacking Harry straight in the eye.

 

“Shit!” Louis curses.

 

“H, mate! Are you-you okay?” Niall bursts out laughing, not even trying to hide it.

 

Louis scoots around the table before he reaches Harry’s pained figure. He’s clutching his eye and Louis grimaces when Harry removes his hand to see a red eye and a blotchy face.

“Hey, m’really sorry, can I get you like ice or somethin’?” Louis rubs the back of his neck wondering how the hell he got himself into this situation.

 

Harry grimaces, “Yeah, yeah, that’d be nice.”

 

Louis nods and motions for Harry to follow him into the house. After maneuvering their way through the sea of people, Louis makes a beeline for the freezer and fishes out some ice to put in an empty cup he finds on the counter.

 

He brings it over to Harry who is prodding at his eye, wincing.

 

“Seriously, I didn’t mean to,” Louis says, handing the cup over.

 

“No worries, not your fault you can’t aim for shit.”

 

Louis gapes at him and is this close to knocking the cup out of his hand because _how dare he_ , but Harry starts laughing.

 

“Kidding! Take a chill pill mate, seriously.”

 

Louis rolls his eyes, “You’re a wanker, and I hope you know that.”

 

“All just banter,” Harry chuckles.

 

Louis is about to retort, determined to win this ‘just banter’, when someone tugs on his elbow and sees a giggling Zayn.

 

“Lou, m’gonna go right now, don’t wait up, got business to take care of!” Zayn shouts quickly, pinching Louis’ cheeks and leaving without another word.

 

Louis blinks.

 

Zayn ditched him.

 

Louis pouts and crosses his arms, deciding he might as well leave since there’s no one handcuffing him to the house, despite Zayn’s empty threats.

 

“Well Harold, that’s my cue to leave, and you owe me.”

 

Harry quirks an eyebrow, “I owe you? For what exactly?”

 

“I sat through your entire performance and might I say, it was downright appalling. I felt like I was at a cheap karaoke club,” Louis shrugs his shoulders.

 

Harry gasps and places a hand over his heart, “You wound me.”

 

“Can always quit while you’re ahead mate,” Louis smirks.

 

Harry furrows his eyebrows, “I quite like singing, thanks for the suggestion _mate_.”

 

“Well, y’know what they say, don’t put your eggs all in one basket.” Louis says in a singsong voice, backing up towards the door, “but I should get goin’ so sorry bout the eye, but try dodging next time Harold.”

 

With that, he tips his imaginary hat, spins on his heel, and heads for the door with a kick in his step and a smile plastered on his face. (He doesn’t like this Harry Styles, he doesn’t, and he’s just drunk is all.)

 

***************

 

Louis doesn’t find himself standing outside the same pub the next night, he swears he was just running down town to get something for dinner after work and he took a wrong turn.

 

He didn’t want to see Harry. He just wants a drink. (At least that’s what he chants in his head as he shoves open door.)

 

He shuffles into the familiar surroundings and makes a beeline for the same booth he and Zayn took the night before.

 

His heart is pounding, he has no idea why, but it all seems like such a terrible idea. He doesn’t know what exactly he thinks is going to come from this because he swears; he hates Harry, and his stupid face, and stupid voice. It’s all stupid.

 

He promises himself that after this performance he will never see Harry again and this is all just to curse his existence and maybe Louis likes to prove his point too much.

 

So after ordering a drink and settling back into the worn seats, Louis fights the urge to punch himself in the face when he hears Niall’s voice echo through the building for the second time.

 

“Alright everybody, it’s that time again! Harry Styles in the house!” Niall announces excitedly and Louis doesn’t choke.

 

He’s just taken off guard.

 

Harry practically struts out on stage, waving at a couple people and bowing a few times before the music starts up. Which okay, Louis shouldn’t be surprised when _These Boots Are Made For Walkin’_ blares through the speakers.

 

Louis shouldn’t find it endearing and he nearly spits out his drink when he realizes Harry is purely singing this song to show off his gold boots.

 

 

Who does he think he is?

 

He can’t keep his eyes off of him and he swears he meets Harry’s eyes and his mouth goes dry when Harry shakes his hips and tosses his hair back.

 

Louis quickly rearranges his face into a scowl, downs the last of his drink and throws balled up napkins on stage, which may or may not hit Harry’s head.

 

Harry throws him a cheeky wink and flashes a wide grin, to which Louis replies with flipping the bird. (He’s a nice person, really.)

 

Once outside, Louis lets out a loud groan and kicks a pebble as hard as he can, freezing when he sees he isn’t alone.

 

He clears his throat, “Have a nice evening,” He flashes a wide smile to the horrified couple and hurries off in the direction of his flat.

 

 

Louis doesn’t sleep that night but he chalks it up to the owl he swears he hears outside his window, despite Zayn’s hysterical laughter when he explains to him the adventures of the night before.

 

****************

 

“He asked about you.”

 

“Who?”

 

“You know who, stop bein’ a twat.”

 

Louis kicks Zayn’s thigh, “Oi, don’t be a dick. Who are you talkin’ about?”

 

“ _Harry_ , from the club. The one with the see through shirt you like so much,” Zayn snickers as Louis’ cheeks flame.

 

“I don’t like him, nor do I like his shirts, thanks. Why was he askin’ about me?”

 

“Well his mate Liam-“

 

“You mean your secret lover?”

 

“ _said_ ,” Zayn continues while throwing a glare at Louis, “he said that you left quite an impression on Harry and was wondering if you would go see him perform again.”

 

“Mate, never in a million years would I watch that again.”

 

Zayn rolls his eyes, “Yeah, because you clearly only ran out to the store last night.”

 

Louis’ cheeks flame and he looks down at his phone.

 

Zayn prods his arm with his elbow, “Lou, he’s cute! And your type, like, m’pretty sure he’s over six foot. Do you need another reason to jump his bones?”

 

“Zayn! I’m not gonna ‘jump his bones’.”

 

“I don’t get why you just can’t admit that you like him.”

 

“I don’t like him, and I don’t need some wannabe singer to waltz into my life and screw things up. Yeah, he’s attractive, so are a lot of people Z, doesn’t mean I need to jump at the opportunity.”

 

Zayn sighs, “I just think this might be good for you.”

 

Louis groans, “No. M’not having this conversation again. I’ll be in me room.” He stands up, shoving Zayn’s legs with his and heading to his room, ignoring the apologetic calls from Zayn.

 

He shuts the door and plops face first into his bed, letting out another defeated groan.

 

Maybe Louis did spend too much time in his room, and immersed himself too deeply into his work, but Louis was safe here.

 

He was safe and there was no one around to judge him or bother him and maybe that was a dangerous way to live or think, but it’s how he is.

 

Louis had dropped out of uni a few months ago and took a job as a teaching assistant. While the freedom is wonderful and there had been a weight lifted off his shoulders, the world soon came crushing down when he realized he had no idea what he was planning on doing with his life.

 

His life was filled with split second decisions and random spurts of courage that got him into wonderful situations and horrible predicaments.

 

Even meeting Zayn could have gone horribly wrong. It had started with a spontaneous trip to the local library, something Louis had never heard about until taking a wrong turn in town one day.

 

He had decided it would probably be a good idea to go study there since all there was in Louis’ flat were endless amounts of distractions and ways to capture his attention for hours on end.

 

Considering this was Louis however, he had no recollection of how to actually get to the library that he had only seen once in his life, so he kept taking wrong turns and ended up on the other side town where he, quite literally, bumped into Zayn.

 

Louis was busy staring at his phone, grumbling to himself about how stupid technology is, when he crashed into someone, dropped his phone, fell on top of the person and heard a string of curses.

 

“Fuckin’ ‘ell mate!” the voice groaned.

 

“Shit, I’m sorry!” Louis said quickly, rushing to his feet and offering a hand to the stranger.

 

The stranger takes his hand and Louis pulls him to his feet.

 

“Made me drop my blunt,” the man sighed, looking over the bridge Louis hadn’t even realized he was walking on.

 

Louis grimaced as he bent down to pick up his phone, “Seriously, sorry mate.”

 

The man shrugged, “Don’t worry about it. Was just usin’ it as an excuse to bail out of work anyway.”

 

Louis chuckled, “Yeah, I’m supposed to be at a library, but here I am.”

 

The man quirked an eyebrow, “The library? It’s literally right down the street.”

 

Louis turned around and sure enough, he could see the library in the distance.

 

He huffed out a laugh and scuffed his shoe, “Thanks. I should, uh, probably get goin’ then. Sorry, again.”

 

“No worries. M’Zayn by the way.  Only tellin’ you that since I work at the tattoo place around the corner and you seem to like ‘em,” He smiled and gestured to Louis’ wrist.

 

Louis returned the smile, “Yeah, didn’t use to, but I got into them like, the past year.”

 

“Well, if you’re ever itchin’ to get another one, I’d be happy to do it mate.”

 

Louis nodded, “Yeah, yeah, cheers mate.”

 

The next day Louis got another tattoo and spent the whole day in the shop with Zayn. It was strange how easy they got on and it was only a few months later when Zayn moved in with Louis after getting kicked out of his old place.

 

Louis sighs and rolls over onto his back, staring at the peeling paint of the ceiling, something he had been meaning to get fixed for months now.

 

His life has always felt incomplete, like something is always missing despite him trying to desperately change things and keep himself afloat. However, the days get longer and maybe he was using Harry as an excuse to explore something different, but relationships were never his strong point and he tended to steer clear of them as much as possible, which only ended in horrible disasters.

 

Louis rubs a tired hand over his face and sighs when he hears a faint knock on the door and sees Zayn peek around.

 

“Figured it was safe to come in now?” Zayn asks hesitantly, still hovering in the doorway.

 

Louis shrugs and nods, scooting over on his bed.

 

Zayn shuts the door behind him and crosses the room, plopping himself next to Louis’ side and props his elbow up, resting his head on his hand.

 

“You gonna talk about this?” Zayn prompts.

 

Louis runs a hand through his hair, “This just seems…really, really idiotic Zayn.”

 

“Elaborate.”

 

Louis huffs out a breath, “I don’t even know the lad. Like, this is stupid. I literally have only had one conversation; I chucked a pong ball at his eye and threw shit at his head while he sang. This clearly is not a positive way to start anything. I was just a dick.”

 

Zayn rolls his eyes, “Mate, you can easily change that. You’re the one who does shit whenever you want. Go say hi and act like a normal human being and not the demonic person- oi! Watch it!”

 

Louis yanks Zayn’s arm out from under his head, “Demonic s’bit harsh.”

 

“You’re the one who told him to ‘quit while he was ahead’, like, what was that?”

 

Louis frowns and looks up at the ceiling, “I didn’t know you knew that.”

 

“Please, I know everythin’ love, I’m in the loop!”

 

Louis scoffs and shakes his head, “Sure, sure, but I still don’t get why he would want to see me.”

 

“Don’t you want to see him?”

 

“Don’t turn this around on me,” Louis jabs Zayn’s arm.

 

“Whatever,” Zayn nudges Louis’ shoulder before standing up, “just go to his gig tonight and stop hatin’ on him ‘cuz he’s cute.”

 

“Just like Liam’s cute right?” Louis teases.

 

Zayn flips him off behind his back as he leaves Louis’ room, shutting the door unnecessarily hard behind him.

 

Louis smiles and shakes his head, sitting up with determination and Harry’s lips on his mind.

 

***********

 _It’s fucking freezing_ is Louis’ first thought as he half walks, half jogs down the street. He curses everything for only wearing a jumper as he balls his hands in the material, willing himself to stop shivering.

 

He’s already a block away from the flat but he refuses to turn around and continues forward with purposeful steps.

 

His heart is racing and his palms are clammy, but he rolls his shoulders and focuses on his breathing.

 

Louis just keeps chanting _you can do it_ as if that’ll make things better.

 

After another ten minutes, he finally reaches the pub, absolutely freezing everything off. He opens the door and slumps his shoulders, letting out a sigh of relief when he’s hit with a blast of warmth, and the fact Harry is no where to be seen.

 

He makes his way to the same booth and slides in, jittery with nerves. He can’t stop bouncing his knee and sweeping his eyes across the pub, searching.

 

He’s just settling back into the seat, breathing deeply, willing to calm his beating heart, when Niall’s familiar voice fills the pub.

 

Louis gulps and sits up a little, tapping his fingers on the table.

 

“Alright ladies and lads, up next is, you guessed it, Harry Styles!” Niall announces, grinning like mad at Louis, even throwing in an excited wave.

 

Louis sinks a bit into his seat, returning the enthusiasm with a weak wave.

 

When Harry walks out, he jumps and gives Niall a high five, flashing a grin and immediately setting his eyes on Louis.

 

Harry flashes a wide smile, dimples and all. Louis gulps and sends a wave, which Harry enthusiastically returns.

 

As the first few notes of the song begin, Harry motions to backstage and raises an eyebrow at Louis.

 

Louis nods quickly and smiles in relief, thankful that Harry is making this easier than he thought it was going to be.

 

The rest of the show is a blur and Louis’ cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much.

 

Afterwards, as he goes backstage to meet Harry, his heart is racing a mile a minute, his palms clammy.

 

He sees Niall at the entrance and high fives his out stretched hand.

 

“Good to see ya mate, Harry hasn’t shut up about ya.”

 

Louis smiles, “Yeah, yeah, s’good to be here.”

 

Niall claps him on the back, “He’s over by the couches, good luck man!”

 

Louis nods and scans the room before his eyes fall on Harry’s lanky figure.

 

He’s chatting to someone and his waving his hands quite expressively when Louis clears his throat behind him, suddenly nervous.

 

Harry spins around and his face lights up, “Louis!”

 

“Harold!” Louis mimicks.

 

Harry laughs and shakes his head, turning back to the person he was speaking to, “I’ll see you tomorrow Ed?”

 

“Yeah mate! Seriously, it’s gonna be great,” Ed responds, fist bumping Harry before waving to Louis and heading over to Niall.

 

“Who’s that?” Louis asks.

 

“My mate Ed, he was the one who helped me get this gig,” Harry explains before taking a breath, “M’glad you could make it…again.”

 

“Wasn’t sure if I was going to. I have an incredibly busy schedule,” Louis shrugs and follows Harry who leads them to the back exit.

 

Harry glances over his shoulder to roll his eyes, “Obviously, even though m’pretty sure Liam told me you had been your flat for four days straight.”

 

Harry holds the door open and Louis doesn’t even have to duck under his arm which makes his heart twist a bit.

 

Louis gasps, “Excuse you! It was only three days, and how does Liam know? Is Zayn talkin’ shit about me?”

 

Harry laughs, “He definitely is, I’ll know all your secrets soon.”

 

Louis scoffs and shoves Harry’s arm with his shoulder.

 

“Did you enjoy the show?” Harry asks, nudging his shoulder back against Louis’.

 

Louis nods, “’Course. I mean, I’m here for the drinks, but,” he shrugs, laughs at Harry’s feigned hurt.

 

“And to think I was going to serenade you, what a waste,” Harry says, sighing dramatically.

 

“Really though, it was great, like usual. I feel like you’re going to give yourself whiplash if you keep flipping your hair around, though.”

 

Harry rolls his eyes, “Please, I was born to flip my hair. It’s what gets all the boys.”

 

Louis didn’t deny that since, yeah, it’s getting him.

 

“Where are we going?” Louis asks, skipping a bit in order to keep up with Harry who immediately notices and slows down a bit.

 

He shrugs, “Wherever your heart desires, since it’s my duty to charm the pants off of you,” his eyes widen. “uh, hypothetically, of course. You can keep your pants on. Unless you don’t want to. That’s cool too.”

 

Louis raises an eyebrow, “Is this all this is then? Trying to get in me pants? I’ll have you know I’m a man of honor,” he teases, puffing out his chest and letting out a squeal as Harry goes to twist his nipple, “Oi! None of that!”

 

Harry lets out a burst of laughter, “Alright, alright, whatever you say. I’m not really too sure on where we could go though, considering it is, uh,” he glances down at his watch because _of course_ he wears a watch. “two in the morning.”

 

“Well, there’s this twenty-four hour diner type thing not to far from here, if you don’t mind that,” Louis suggests.

 

“That sounds lovely.”

 

**********

 

Louis would like to say the night was magical, and perfect in every way imaginable, but this is Louis’ life and also, it’s England, where the weather is terribly unpredictable. During the walk to the diner, Louis had felt a few drops on his forehead, and within minutes the two were sprinting down the streets, jackets held over their heads as they ran to shelter.

 

“I fucking hate Brighton,” Louis pants, clutching onto Harry’s arm in order to keep pace with him.

 

Harry just laughs as they skid around the corner, running up steps to a flat complex.

 

As they reach the top they both bend over and rest their hands on their knees, gasping to catch their breath.

 

“This is my place, we can hide out here if that’s, uh, alright with you,” Harry smiles sheepishly, standing up and shaking out his hair that was completely drenched.

 

Louis nods, cheeks heating up, “Yeah, yeah, that’s alright.”

 

Once Harry fumbles with the keys and finally manages to get the door open, Louis is immediately hit with the smell of scented candles, and it shouldn’t make him smile as much as it does.

 

They both kick off their shoes off outside and hang their soggy coats on the kitchen chairs to dry.

 

The place is small, but it’s cozy and inviting, and Louis is already in love with it. There are pictures hung over all the walls, and a few posters hung up as well. To the right is a small living room with mismatched couches pushed up against the wall, and a coffee table in front. Louis chuckles to himself when he notices some fashion magazines on the table, no doubt Harry’s, considering Louis’ observation of a strange obsession with fancy boots.

 

The kitchen is the complete opposite of Louis and Zayn’s; it’s totally spotless and looks like an actual kitchen instead of a large rubbish bin. Harry walks into the kitchen and pulls two mugs down from the cupboard and turns to face Louis, “Tea alright?”

 

Louis hops onto one of the bar stools to sit at the counter and rolls his eyes, “Shouldn’t even have to ask- I would never turn down a cuppa.”

 

Harry grins, “Good to know.”

 

“So, Curly,” Louis starts as he spins on the stool, “what got you into this whole singing shebang?”

 

Harry quirks an eyebrow as he stirs the tea, “Shebang?”

 

A smiles plays on Harry's lips, “Well, like, I’ve always loved singing but I just kind of thought it was always going to be hobby, y’know? But then Niall introduced me to Ed, and he got me a gig down here since Ed knows the owner of the pub,” he explains as he sets the mug in front of Louis.

 

He walks around and plops himself onto the stool next to Louis, “So I quit uni, packed up my things, came to Brighton, moved in with Niall, and just... started performing. Nothing has really come of it, and it’s been six months so,” he shrugs, “Don’t know if it will ever really become something.”

 

“What did you want it to become?” Louis asks, bouncing his knee anxiously.

 

Harry scratches the back of his neck, “I mean, I always thought it would be really cool to become like a professional singer, and live in London and all that good stuff. It just sounds so amazing and Ed has been trying to arrange things out for me since he knows people, but it hasn’t really worked out yet.”

 

Louis reaches out and pats Harry’s knee, lingering only a little bit, “Don’t beat yourself up, though, you really are wonderful, and you’ve got lots of time. I mean you’re only…” he trails off.

 

“Twenty.” Harry finishes.

 

“Exactly.” Louis’ heart is beating too fast. He takes a sip of tea.

 

“But what do you do? Since clearly you have time to spare to come watch me be wonderful,” Harry says, smiling behind his cup.

 

“Again, I’m terribly busy, thank you very much. And I was going to uni, but it uh, wasn’t working out, so I dropped out and now I’m just a teacher’s assistant since like, I always thought teaching was cool, but doing it for my whole life just seems…weird,” He shrugs, “Dunno, think I’m just going through a mid-life crisis if m’bein’ honest.”

 

“Mid-life crisis? That seems pretty extreme.”

 

“Please Harold, you’re too young to understand,” Louis proclaims, rolling his eyes and easily dodging Harry’s attempt to pinch him.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry says, yawning. He’s stretching his arms up and _no_ , Louis’ eyes don’t wander down his torso, not even a little, why would they?

 

“I should probably get going, yeah?” Louis says hopping down from his stool. Harry catches his arm, stopping him.

 

“You aren’t actually serious? You can’t possibly go outside, Lou. You’ll drown. You can just stay here tonight.”

 

Louis chews on his lip, a million thoughts racing through his mind. Somehow he finds himself nodding in agreement.

 

Next thing he knows Harry is creating a makeshift bed for him on the couch and giving him clothes to change to.

 

Louis’ heart has never felt so full.

 

It was also arguably the best night’s sleep he’s had, but Louis chalks it up to the tea.

 

***********

“Please tell me you shagged him, I swear to God Louis if you didn’t-“

 

“Z, please,” Louis’ voice cracks.

 

Zayn’s face falls instantly as he turns to look over the couch, “Wait, Lou-Louis what happened?”

 

Louis sniffles and rubs at his eyes, sitting next to Zayn, “He kissed me.”

 

“Is that all?” Zayn asks hesitantly.

 

Louis lets out an exasperated sigh, “I just, I ran away Zayn. I freaked out and I ran away and I don’t know why, but it was just,” he shakes his head, “I don’t know why I did that.”

 

Zayn wraps his arm over Louis’ shoulder, “Louis, there’s no reason to be scared. I mean, I get why you would run, but like, it’s okay, y’know?”

 

Louis turns and buries his face in Zayn’s shoulder, “He’s never going to speak to me again. He was actually the sweetest human being possible to me, and it’s not like I didn’t want to because _God,_ I did,” he rubs at his eyes and blinks away stray tears.

 

“Babe, s’alright, yeah? He’s a great guy, and he’s got to understand right? Maybe just take a day to think about things and go see ‘im at the club soon and talk about it,” Zayn rubs his arm comfortingly as Louis nods.

 

“Yeah, yeah, okay.”

 

Except a day turns into a week and Louis hasn’t showered in four of those days.

 

He hears Zayn puttering around the flat and blinks an eye open to see it’s only nine in the morning. He sighs and flips over, pulling the covers up over his head and wills Zayn to go back to sleep or go to work.

 

His heart lurches at the thought of work. He knows he’s going to be in trouble, and most likely fired considering he hasn’t talked to anyone about his absence and has refused to answer the phone.

 

Louis pulls a pillow over his head when he hears a knock on his door before it’s opening.

 

“Lou?”

 

Louis lets out a muffled groan, letting Zayn know he’s at least alive.

 

“Lou,” Zayn sighs.

 

He feels Zayn sit on the edge of the bed, “You really have to get up. I know you don’t want to, but I’ve let you wallow for a week now and haven’t bothered you once other then to bring you food so you don’t die in ‘ere.”

 

Louis whines.

 

“I will physically drag you out of this bed if you won’t do it yourself,” Zayn threatens.

 

Louis huffs and tosses the pillow off his head to sit up and rub his eyes, “Can you just leave me be?”

 

“I care too much about you to ‘leave you be’. It’s been a week.”

 

“You keep saying that,” Louis grumbles.

 

“Oi!” Zayn pinches Louis’ arm, “I mean it. Get up Louis. I’m doing this out of love. Go take a shower, go put on clean clothes, _go see Harry_. Liam hasn’t stopped worrying about ‘im and both of you two are a mess, so get on with it. Apologize and fucking talk to ‘im.”

 

Zayn stands and tosses the pillow Louis had thrown at his head, “I mean it.”

 

Louis glares at him and throws the pillow at Zayn’s back just as he exits the room, leaving the door open.

 

“If I don’t hear the shower goin’ in five minutes, I’m throwing you in there!” Zayn shouts.

 

Louis lets out a particularly loud groans, flopping back down in bed.

 

He contemplates his chances of barricading the door, but he knows if all else fails Zayn can call Liam and break the door.

 

So since he loves his door too much, he slips out of bed, stumbling a bit. He makes the short trip to the bathroom and sees Zayn has left him a pile of folded clothes on the counter. He sighs and rubs the back of his neck, shutting the bathroom door with his foot.

 

He starts the shower, undresses, and hops in once the water is warm.

 

He knows he shouldn’t be like this. He knows he’s probably being dramatic and overreacted and he knows okay, he _knows._ He feels like shit and he’s more upset at the fact that he’s basically ignored everything and he really hasn’t taken Harry into consideration.

 

He’s a shitty person and this is why he thought he was better off just hating Harry because regardless Harry is going to hate him.

 

After finishing up with his shower and getting dressed, he brushes his teeth and heads out to the living room. He finds Zayn on the couch drawing and watching the tele.

 

Zayn turns to him when he sits down, “Nice of you to smell like a human being.”

 

Louis rolls his eyes and shoves Zayn’s arms weakly, “Yeah, yeah.”

 

“So,” Zayn prompts.

 

Louis leans back against the couch, “What am I doing Zayn?”

 

“Well, you’ve gotten out of bed, took a shower and changed into clean clothes. You’ve made progress.”

 

“You know what I mean.”

 

Zayn sets his sketchbook down on the table and sits cross-legged to face Louis, “Mate, I suggest you go over to his flat and talk to him. Niall already said he has no problem leaving since he’s been in the flat with Harry like all week, along with Liam. Who, by the way, is driving Niall up the wall from what I’ve heard.”

 

“I’m really just going to go over there? Does he even want to uh, see me?” Louis grimaces.

 

“Honestly mate, he’s been beating himself up about this. He thinks it’s his fault and that he shouldn’t have done that. He hasn’t even performed all week, so you need to fix this.”

 

Louis gulps, “He hasn’t performed?”

 

“Nope,” Zayn shakes his head, “He hasn’t. He’s been wallowing just like you and has felt like shit.”

 

“And I just, go over there?”

 

Zayn sighs and stands up, grabbing Louis’ arm and pulling him up with him, “ _Yes_ , now go. You know where he lives, don’t forget your phone, call me if you have _good news_ and don’t come home until you do. Love you,” Zayn says all in a rush, shoving Louis’ phone into his hands, throwing a coat at him, and shoving him out the front door.

 

Louis blinks.

 

He stares at the closed front door for a moment before he’s knocking on it.

 

“Can I at least get a beanie!” He yells through the door, running his hands through his still damp hair.

 

Zayn opens the door, throws a beanie at his face and shuts it again, “Bye Louis!”

 

Louis grumbles to him self as he slips it over his head and shrugs on the coat, jogging down the steps from their flat.

 

Everything is a mess and his chest already feels tight with anxiety just thinking about it.

 

But he sets off towards Harry’s, taking deep breaths as he does.

 

******************

“It’s about bloody time!” is Niall’s announcement as he opens to the door.

 

Louis gives a weak smile and scuffs his shoe on the ground, “I’m sorry, I just, I didn’t know what to do, and I feel like such a dick, I didn’t mean to and I-“

 

Niall claps a hand over Louis’ mouth and yanks him inside, “Mate, no need to apologize to me, go tell the lump that hasn’t left his bed,” he removes his hand and points down the hall.

 

“Um, still, I’m sorry,” Louis apologizes again, taking hesitant steps in the direction of Harry’s rom.

 

“You just owe me pints for having to put up with that and Liam for a whole week. Jesus Christ, I don’t know how Zayn can put up with him. All he does is worry and clean and work out and it’s disgusting.”

 

Louis is about to apologize once again when he sees Liam walk into the room.

 

“You finally decided to show up?” Liam furrows his eyebrows, crossing his arms.

 

“I uh-“

 

Niall cuts him off, “Yes, now don’t stall him Li, we’re leaving, _you’re_ leaving. I’ll be back in a couple hours, just go Louis, please.”

 

Louis stands with his mouth open before quickly shutting it and nodding. He scoots his way around Liam, avoiding his angry eyes and making his way down the hallway.

 

He stops at the only closed door, the last one on the right. He takes a deep breath and knocks a few times.

 

“Go away Niall,” Harry calls from inside.

 

Louis clears his throat, “S’not Niall.”

 

He’s met with silence.

 

“Can I come in?” Louis tries again.

 

“Just go in Louis!” Niall yells from the front door.

 

Louis rubs his face before he listens to Niall and pushes open the door.

 

The room is dark, save for a few small rays of lights shining through the blinds. The room is surprisingly clean, especially compared to Louis’ room that had to have been hit with a tornado in his sleep.

 

However, there are dishes on the nightstand and pillows tossed in a pile at the foot of the bed.

 

The covers have been crumples around Harry’s body that lies in the middle, buried beneath them all.

 

Louis shuts the door quietly behind him and goes over to the window, opening the blinds a little to let some more light in.

 

“Harry?” He asks softly, hovering by the side of the bed.

 

No response.

 

“Harry please,” his voice cracks and his eyes shouldn’t already be watering and his heart shouldn’t hurt as much as it does.

 

At the sound of Louis’ fragile voice, Harry stirs beneath the covers, moving them off his head and sitting up on his elbows. He blinks and rubs his eyes, not use to the light and he bites his lip when he sees Louis’ concerned face.

 

“You can um,” Harry clears his throat, “um, sit down if um, if you want,” he gestures to the bed.

 

Louis nods slowly, sitting down on the edge, his back facing Harry.

 

He’s silent for a moment, just listens to Harry’s steady breathing before he finally turns to look at him.

 

“Harry, I can’t begin to say how s-sorry I am,” Louis sniffles a bit and tries to discreetly rub at his eyes.

 

Harry’s face instantly falls, “You’re sorry? No Louis, I’m sorry. Jesus, I shouldn’t have done that. I thought you came here to yell at me, or curse at me or just tell me to sod off or-“

 

“Are you kidding me?” Louis cuts him off, “I’m not angry with you, not even a little. I was pissed off at myself. I’m sorry because I shouldn’t have just left you and then I didn’t speak to you and have your really not been performing?”

 

Harry stares at him before he launches himself across the bed and tackles Louis into a hug. He completely envelops Louis in his arms and buries his face in his chest.

 

Louis is shocked but he immediately wraps his arms around Harry’s body, pulling him closer.

 

“I’m sorry,” Louis repeats over and over into Harry’s curls.

 

Harry shakes his head before he leans back, “Please, don’t be. We’re both at fault, and I just, I’m such an idiot,” He keeps his arms wrapped around Louis’ waist.

 

Louis tucks some hair behind Harry’s ear, “I am though. For everything. For being a dick to you in the beginning, For running away. For hitting you with a pong ball.”

 

Harry cracks a smile, “Really? Even for the pong ball?”

 

Louis rolls his eyes but grins, “Yes you dork, even for the pong ball.”

 

Harry smiles, searching Louis’ face before he finally speaks, “I’d quite like to properly kiss you, but you have to promise that you won’t leave ever, ever again.”

 

He moves to hold Harry’s face between his hands and closes the distance between them.

 

Louis’ lips slot perfectly against Harry’s and they start out slow, testing the waters, before Harry’s parts his mouth and swipes his tongue along Louis’ bottom lip.

 

He slides his fingers into Harry’s curls and tugs at the roots as Harry deepens the kiss, pulling Louis into his lap.

 

Louis finally pulls back a bit, just to catch his breath, when he opens his eyes and is met with Harry’s wide, glassy, green ones. He brings one hand to cup Harry’s face and stroke his cheek, before smiling and saying, “I promise.”

 

 

 


End file.
